Promises
by kalthurin
Summary: Short song inspired fic on the length some go to keep a promise and protect those that matter.


AN.

Right taking a quick break from life in general after being informed yesterday morning me and my family were being evicted for no other reason than the landlord wanted the house back.

I won't write what I said when I awoke to that particular news.

Any ways this is a short one shot story I had pop into my oh so frazzled noggin when I was listening to Far away by Nickle back, hope you enjoy it, and yes before you ask it was further inspired by the video for the aforementioned tune.

Made some minor changes hope this reads a bit better than the original version.

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><p>Ichigo snaked his hands around her waist lifting her off the bed.<p>

A grin plastered his bronzed, smoke tinged skin as he spun his woman through the air before falling backwards into the plush, freshly made bed.

A look of mild annoyance danced across her vision as she rolled free, turning her head she locked gazes with the orange haired man before her, his eyes seemed to sparkle with life and much to her further chagrin she felt any semblance of hostility or even mild annoyance melt from her as she tumbled headlong into the deep chocolate pools that were her lovers eyes.

Rolling on to his side he traced his finger tips over her collar bone as he leant in and gently brushed his lips to hers, his fingers still dancing their miniature trails of fire along her skin.

His free hand softly slipped his hand round into the small of her back and lifted her off him as he slid from the bed. He began to descended to one knee, his left hand sliding through vacant air as he reached for the bedside cabinets only draw when a vibrating chirp broke through the silence, its harsh vibrating shattering the stillness that had enveloped the room.

Her eyes snapped to the object of the aggressive intrusion, looking back she begged him to ignore it, her eyes silently pleading for him to ignore it just this once.

No lilting apology could have kept her from the heart break she felt when he picked it up and flipped it open.

"Yeah, ok, right"

Turning he glanced through the door leading out to the veranda and saw the others pulling up.

"They're here, be there in twenty"

Turning back to Rukia he pulled her tightly to him, his fingers curling into her raven tresses as he desperately fought back the urge to look into her tear blurred eyes.

"I'll be back soon, I promise"

pushing her out to arms length he brushed the backs of his fingers over her cheek, smoothing away the lone tear that had begun the slow descent across her alabaster skin.

"I mean it, I will be back"

Rukia silently nodded as she desperately fought to control her need to cry.

Sighing deeply he pulled away from her and snatched the fire proof coat from the chair besides his wardrobe as his free hand looped itself through the handles of his kit bag.

Walking to the door he glanced back a soft smile on his face as he blew her a kiss, shouldering the door open he paused words fighting for dominance as he desperately fought for something comforting to say to the woman he would gladly die for.

"I promise"

Rukia nodded again pulling her knees to her chest as she turned away from him uttering a soft goodbye.

"Go Ichigo, they're waiting"

Sighing again Ichigo left the screen door clacking against its wooden frame as he walked down the steps.

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><p>Renji sat in the drivers seat, one arm hanging lazily over the door panel as he watched Ichigo make his way to the truck.<p>

"Come on lover boy get your ass moving"

Ichigo scoffed as he chucked his gear into the flat bed of the truck and hopped up next, he slumped to the floor next to Ikkaku and Chad, nodding his thanks as he watched Chad reach across his spade like hand Slapping the roof signalling to Renji that they were all set.

"Hey Shuei" Ichigo shouted, raising his voice to further his chances of being heard of the V8 Diesel engine roaring in front of them.

Hisagi turned in the passenger seat and looked back through the partition window, cocking an eyebrow in a silent question.

"What grade we looking at here"

Shrugging Hisagi limply replied as best he could, he was as clueless as every one else.

"Could be anything buddy, they got sections from all over coming in on this, so I wouldn't hope for anything less than an Adjucas level blaze, although it is in the Hueco mundo national park."

Ichigo winced as he glanced back at the rapidly diminishing house he shared with the woman he had hoped to make his wife.

Shaking his head he pushed away the deep sense of foreboding that had settled itself in his stomach and turned himself into the corner, pulling his helmet down over his eyes.

He hoped to god none of them saw the small singular tear rolling down his cheek.

Chad stared at his friend and companion as he watched the small saline droplet cleave its path down his face streaking a path through the thin layer of soot that had already collected on his skin from the pall hanging in the air.

* * *

><p>Rukia picked up the remote, her small petite hands fishing for it beneath the bunched and bundled duvet.<p>

Pressing down on the small rubberised button she watched as the screen in front of her buzzed and popped into life, the stained and dirtied face of the reporter flashed into life on the screen.

She stared at the scrolling words as they passed along the bottom edge of the screen the crimson banner drawing in the eye as the ivory white letters rolled by.

**Fire rages through Hueco Mundo national Park, members from the Seireitei Fire department called into tackle the Blaze.**

Rukia's eyes danced across the screen as she watched the men scramble through the background, her eyes fixing on the flash of orange and red as she watched the screen.

Pulling her knees tighter to her chest she scooted back bunching the duvet around her as she settled into the wait.

* * *

><p>Racing across the grass Ichigo and Renji snatched up respirator units from the back of their stations wagon and sprinted to the rally point.<p>

The bedraggled form of their station chief greeted them his impassive eyes glanced at them as they skidded to a stop infront of him.

"Chopper now"

Nodding to him they slung the units over their shoulders as they charged to the waiting helicopter.

Byakuya dragged the helmet from his head and ran a hand through his already damp hair.

The helicopter lifted away as he watched the brash form of Ichigo hanging out the side of the helicopter feet braced against the skid as he held on grimly to the side handle.

Shaking his head he turned back to the maelstrom ahead of him.

"Get those damned Cameras back for the love of god"

Striding away he pushed the thought of the men he had sent in to the back of his mind as he refocused on the task at hand.

* * *

><p>Ichigo leapt down from the helicopter, the heat drying the bare skin of his neck in an instant, the familiar tightness drawing him back into reality, motioning with his hand he directed the three men with him to the fair side of the clearing.<p>

Nodding to the rest, he watched as they linked up the hoses, the thick reinforced pipes snaking their way to the water tanks the second helicopter had dropped in moments before they arrived.

"Renji, get a hose line in there, if we aren't careful those tress will boil out and burst, no one wants a bath in sap that's been heated to a thousand degrees or more"

Abarai nodded as he darted off dragging a hose with him, Ichigo snatched the nozzle up from the floor as the other two men fell in behind him, the third latching on to the hose Renji was quickly disappearing with.

"We do this right we all get to make it home boys"

The others simply nodded as Ichigo opened the tap, the fire hose instantly swelling as thirty thousand gallons of water were forced through the reinforced hose in seconds, the pressurised jet arched away from them light dancing through the water as it hung in the air.

The spray glistening like diamonds as the light of the fire refracted through it, shimmering mist clung to their visors as they began their slow deliberate march forwards.

The heat closed in around Abarai and his follower as they ventured deeper into the inferno before them, the heat was unbearable his lungs shrunk back into his chest, the heat closing lick a steel band constricting and crushing his chest.

Drawing in a breath he felt the heat roll through him scorching his throat dry.

Sniffing, the smell of singed hair reached Renji's nostrils, grimacing he realised quickly it was his own hair combusting in the heat, eyes widening in suppressed terror he cried out in pain and rage.

"Fuck it"

Dragging the hose round he dunked his head into the stream dousing his scalp and rapidly burning hair.

* * *

><p>Ichigo pushed forwards, the water vaporising the closer they got to the boiling, semi living wall of heat.<p>

A loud groaning crash made the trio jump as a blazing limb crashed to the floor five feet away from them.

"Shit, heads on a swivel lads"

The two fire fighters nodded, as they pushed onwards.

The forest blazed about them as they dragged the hose from left to right, limbs of burning timber fell the dying forest severing its own dead weight in a bid to save itself.

The world seemed to cry out in pain as trees crashed to the floor around them, showering them in a mist of falling embers that danced around them, swirling and spinning in the heated air like glowing spectres of burning hatred forcing the men backwards, a conifer slammed into the floor in a shower of burning needles forcing the three man crew to rapidly scramble backwards away from the razor edge hail of burning death.

"Fuck this, out now"

Lifting his hand Ichigo turned the radio receiver in his mask on.

"Extraction needed, Chief its no good we got to air drop this zone we are getting cooked alive down here"

A muffled curse echoed through his ears, as Byakyua's clipped tones rolled down the speaker.

"Very well, evacuate back to the deployment zone a helicopter is on it's way"

Ichigo smiled for once the King of Ice had listened to reason.

"Roger that, back it up lads we are out of here"

Switching Channels Ichigo called through to Renji, "Hey buddy we are bugging out this is to hot for us to handle, RV back at the drop off point, birds on the way"

The line crackled and fizzed a garbled reply grated against his ears, Ichigo barely made out the acknowledgement before it died in a burst of static.

The hose slapped into the dampened conifer spines as the duo sprinted away from the inferno snapping at their heels, "FUCKING MOVE GO, GO, GO"

Renji shoved the man infront of him between the shoulder blades as the wall of trees around them burst in a shower of wood, bark and sap, the scalding splinters showered the two men, cries of pain echoed around them as the boiling tar like goo found exposed flesh.

Renji's eyes flared white as the back of his neck blistered and bubbled, slapping his gloved hand against his skin he felt the skin slip and tear as the weakened dermis split under the heat.

The man ahead of Renji stumbled into the clearing, heaving in his mask as he rolled against the cold, wet floor in a vain attempt to extinguish his burning coat.

Half blinded by pain Renji Stumbled and clawed his way through the inferno, a creaking groan grabbed his attention, turning he watched in horror as the tree swelled and burst, the concussive force sending him off his feet, his body flew through the air slamming limply into the ground as his unconscious form crumpled like a rag dol.

Ichigo stared eyes wide with terror as he saw his partner and friend lifted from his feet dissapearing into a roiling wall of flaming timber.

One of the men behind him, dragged at his sleeve as he charged forwards.

"Choppers here, let's go, leave him he's gone"

Ichigo wrenched free from the man's grasp as dragged a fresh oxygen tank on to his back.

"You go I am going to get him, Save me a seat"

The other three men sprinted to the waiting helicopter as Ichigo tightened the straps to his back, breath hissing in his ears he dived headlong into the living wall of heat.

Kicking burning brush aside he scrambled through the thickening mire of smoke and cinders, stumbling through the dancing light he lifted his arm to shield his eyes from the glaring flames, as he groped blindly for Renji's booted foot.

"Come on Pineapple, we are out of here"

Renji's limp unconscious form weighed heavily on his shoulders as he staggered from the wall of burning trees, screaming and flailing frantically he watched in a detached horror as the helicopter slowly lifted and flew clear rising ever further from his reach.

"Fuck, NO COME BACK YOU BASTARD'S"

Shifting Renji's weight Ichigo trudged forwards, a howling groan issued form his left turning Ichigo's eyes widened as the burning trunk of a sycamore came barrelling towards the pair, with little time to think Ichigo threw Renji clear as the blackened bark filled his vision.

* * *

><p>Rukia watched the news caster rattle off an inane diatribe on a topic she couldn't name as he chewed at her nails.<p>

She watched ad waited for the slightest glimmer of news on the forest fire.

Her eyes widened as she saw a hand clutching a sheaf of paper appear from the side of the screen and shove them into the waiting hands of the news caster.

"**This just in, two fire fighters of station six are missing and feared dead after section chief, Ichigo Kurosaki barrelled head long into the blazing forest to retrieve a fellow fire fighter.**

**According to sources the fire fighter in question is Renji Abarai a fellow member of the sixth station, the younger fire fighter was retreating from the blaze when according to another man on the scene a tree exploded rendering him unconscious, Kurosaki ignoring pleas from his fellow crew men barrelled headlong into the inferno in search of the downed man.**

**They tried to wait as long as possible in hope of returning with their fellow fire fighters but due to the intense heat and smoke issuing from the area the rescue helicopter had to abandon the two men or risk becoming yet another victim.**

**Reports on the status of the two men remain inconclusive but there is little hope for either man having survived the blaze"**

Rukia's mind went blank, the screen in front of her swirled and twisted as tears rolled unbidden down her cheeks, burying her face in her hands she sobbed uncontrollably, images flashed through her head as he body was racked with violent raw emotion.

"I will be back soon, I promise"

Ichigo's face danced before her, reaching out she raised her hand to the phantom image before her, as her fingers made contact with the bronzed cheek in her midst the image dissolved and vanished as if caught on the breeze .

Falling to her side Rukia screamed as the truth slowly began to force its way in.

* * *

><p>Coughing and heaving Ichigo pushed himself from the floor, his mask hissed and spat, staring down his vision blurred and bounced as he tried to gaze through myriad of splits and spider web like cracks.<p>

Ripping the mask from his face he tossed it aside as he ripped the hose clear from it mount and clamped it between his teeth, reaching down he grabbed hold of the back of Renji's harness and started to drag him from under the tree, pulling and straining he began the slow trek to safety.

* * *

><p>The helicopter circled the clearing, Kyoraku Shunsui leant out of the passenger side opening a pair of binoculars pressed to his face as he searched for any sign of the two men.<p>

A brief flash of yellow caught his eye, snapping his hand to the left he focused in on the spot below him, a shark like grin spread like oil on water across his face as he watched the two ant like forms materialise below him.

"Down, take us down" he yelled as he waved his right arms up and down catching the pilots attention.

The man nodded and began the rapid descent as Kyoraku began to unsnap his harness and climb out the door.

Ichigo stared upwards the smoke swirling around him, he loosened his jaw slightly allowing the compressed air into his lungs, a soft grin crossed his scowling features as he watched the bright red helicopter descend into the swirling vortex around him.

Dragging the still unconscious Renji towards the helicopter, he watched as Kyoraku leapt from the still descending helicopter, he hit the floor in a shower of sparking wood and ash, scrambling through the burning brush he grabbed hold of the limp rag dol like form in Ichigo's grasp and flung it over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, "Come on mate lets get you the hell out of here"

Ichigo staggered into the waiting helicopter as Kyoraku dumped the now softly groaning form of Renji on the floor.

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><p>The helicopter landed amidst a blaze of halogen lights and running men and women.<p>

Jumping from the airframe, Ichigo slowly limped towards his boss.

Byakuya cocked an eyebrow at the sight of a very dirty, bloodied and obviously limping Ichigo Kurosaki.

"I thought you were dead"

Ichigo looked stunned, he couldn't tell whether his station chief was disappointed, surprised or both with that fact that he stood there alive and mostly well, Ichigo scowled as he stood staring into the impassive gaze of Byakuya Kuchiki.

"You would like that wouldn't you boss"

Byakuya looked like he could almost smile.

"Not really I could do with out the extra paper work"

Ichigo snorted as he brushed past the stoic figure and made his way to the waiting medic.

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><p>Rukia awoke with a start, the sound of sliding rubber over gravel drew her from her stupor, stumbling to the door, she brushed her limp lifeless hair from her eyes as she pulled the door open and stepped out on to porch.<p>

The stoic façades infront her told her more than words ever could, her legs began to buckle as she took in the faces before her leaning heavily on the railing she began to sob.

Renji stood there fighting the urge to say something, his left eye covered by antiseptic gauze stung as the tears began to roll.

Limping forwards he brushed the hair away from Rukia's face.

"What you crying for Rukes"

Looking up into Renji's face she broke down further, the sorrow dancing in her eyes caused Renji's heart to freeze in his chest.

"He's dead, isn't he"

Renji closed his eyes and looked away.

Turning he began to slowly limp away from her.

A gloved pair of hands, encircled Rukia's waist lifting her up from the hard oak decking.

"Whose dead"

Her eyes snapped open, as she gazed up into soft amber pools, throwing her arms round his neck she let everything loose, sobbing uncontrollably into his stained and ash smeared coat.

* * *

><p>Renji motioned with the walking stick in his hand a wide grin plastered across his face.<p>

"Come on boys lets get the hell out of here before I start to cry"

* * *

><p>Ichigo brushed her tray bang out of her eyes gently as he brushed his lips across hers.<p>

"I never thought you would be home again" she murmured half to herself.

Ichigo grinned down at her.

"I promised didn't I"

hugging him tightly to her, she smiled into his neck.

"Yeah you did"


End file.
